Falcons vs. Bengals story lines - CNNSI.com

[The Falcon Jedi]

NFL storylines for Week 7 range from the bizarre to the predictable must-win-game variety.

But considering all the juicy storylines out there, we begin not with the major-market headline-grabbers and usual top-of-the-marquee teams. We start in Atlanta, where the generally sub-topic Falcons and Bengals have given the league a lot to talk about over the past week. The Falcons are trying to prove they're for real. The Bengals are trying to prove they're not imploding. In the meantime, stories abound:

• No one bothered to Get Their Popcorn Ready for the T.Ocho Show and he's overrated. Will he provide an answer on the field? The debut of Terrell Owens' show with Chad Ochocinco should have been dubbed "Blutarsky." It drew a rating of 0.1. That wasn't the only sad and bizarre news for T.O. He also was rated the most overrated player in the NFL in an SI poll of NFL players and solicited the services of an elite dating service in hopes of finding a Kim Kardashian-type. One of these days, maybe Sunday against the Falcons, T.O.'s relevance on the field and off will pass.

• You can quote Mike Zimmer ... just make sure the kids are not listening. When Chad Ochocinco is not the best pre-game trash talker, you know you'll have yourself a whale of a game. Ochocinco shipped a box of T-shirts with a caricature of his mug to Falcons defensive backs. The DBs were not amused. Meanwhile, Zimmer, the Bengals defensive coordinator, riled the entire state of Arkansas over Bobby Petrino's hasty 2007 in-season exit from the Falcons to take over as Razorbacks head coach. Zimmer called Petrino, "a gutless bastard" and went on: "When a coach quits in the middle of the year and ruins a bunch of people's families and doesn't have enough guts to at least finish out the year, I am not a part of that. You can put that in the Arkansas News-Gazette. I don't really (care). I am serious. He is a coward. Put that in quotes."

• Dunta Robinson got knocked out, was at the epicenter of a play that led to a controversial rule change and was fined $50,000 ... other than that he had a great week. Robinson, whose crushing hit on DeSean Jackson led to the league threatening suspensions for similar hits, did not practice Friday and likely will not play. He probably could use some time off, anyway.

Cincinnati's vertical game has become as horizontal as a doornail. Maybe Carson Palmer will dress up like Carson Palmer for Halloween. He clearly hasn't been the only reason the Bengals have begun the year a disappointing 2-3. But he's the quarterback ... and five interceptions in his last three game hasn't exactly endeared Palmer to fans. If he doesn't get well against a mediocre-at-best Falcons secondary missing Robinson, he probably won't get well at all in 2010.

• "Overtrained Athlete Syndrome" must be catchy ... Antwan Odom seems to have come down with the same thing. Brian Cushing's positive test and four-game suspension was blamed on Overtrained Athlete Syndrome. Officially, Odom's attorney said Odom tested positive by accidentally ingesting a weight loss pill that belonged to his wife. Anyone else wondering what his wife had to say about Odom using that story?


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/wr...z13EltomM3